Emotion Commotion
by Believing Is The Key 2.0
Summary: Jayden distances himself from the team after the mission in Monaula. And unable to express his emotions, he locks himself away to train. But what happens when a Nighlok gets in control of the Rangers' emotions? Can Jayden keep his teammates' emotions in check? Can he keep his own emotions in check? Post 2x12 'Trust Me' Jaymia
1. Ji's Plan

Chapter 1 'Ji's Plan'

Mentor heard the sound of the front door opening followed by laughs. He emerged from the kitchen to see Kevin, Mike, Mia, Emily, and Antonio returning from a fun night out, or so he can tell from the excited chatter and the souvenirs they carried with them.

"Did you all have fun at the bowling alley?" he asked, despite knowing the answer.

A chorus of 'Yes' and 'Definitely' came from the group of teens. After the very eventful day at Monaula, Mentor had decided that the team needed the week off of training. He was aware that the team had been working hard since Day 1. He was very impressed with the way they handled the situation with Serrator and the blasters on the island. They deserved this break and live like teens their age should...until a situation rises of course.

Emily ran up to Mentor, bopping her head with each step she took, "Mike won me a stuffed bear from the claw game!" she beamed and held up a fluffy white bear wearing a green wool sweater.

"And I beat Mike at bowling," Kevin bragged while taking off his jacket. Mike frowned before subjecting, "Hey! You cheated though."

"Yeah, right...Someone here must be _green _with envy," The team laughed at the corny joke. Mike was still not amused.

Antonio clapped Mike in the back, "Why down? You were the king of the Dance Dance Revolution game at the alley arcade."

Mike's snapped out of his moping and popped his collar, "I was, wasn't I? I was pretending to be upset so you guys could remind me."

Mentor shook his head at Mike's cockiness. Then he remembered something, "And you extended an invitation to Jayden as well?"

It became silent.

Ever since the Monaula mission, Jayden couldn't help think of what Dekker said about how he had been using his teammates to fight his battles. He had been distancing himself from the team, purposefully excusing himself from team activities including the the bowling alley. He reverted back to his old ways of solitude.

Recovering from the silence, Mia spoke, "We asked him, but he declined,"

"He said he had to _train_," Mike added, "It's a break. Even Kevin here isn't training."

"When do you think he'll finally go outside?" Kevin asked the group.

"Maybe when a Nighlok decides to visit Panorama again?" Antonio offered then hatched an idea, "Guys, one of us should dress up as a Nighlok-"

"Antonio," Ji scolded, "That is not a wise decision. Let's not forget the incident when Mike had dressed up as Doubletone for Halloween."

Mike had a Nighlok costume and thought it was funny to prank the girls. Unfortunately for him, Emily and Mia reacted in the way they normally do when catching sight of a Nighlok. Mike ended up in the infirmary 20 minutes later, spending Halloween night in a full body cast.

"Well, a mummy was my second choice anyway,"

Kevin yawned, "I'm off to bed," He handed a plastic bag to Mia, "Do you mind giving this to Jayden for me?"

"No problem," Mia said while taking the bag. Then Kevin retired to his room after thanking Mia and bidding a 'goodnight' to everybody.

"Hey Mia. Could you deliver these stuffed animals to Jayden's please?" Emily begged. Mia looked at her exhausted friend. Her arms were occupied by an army of teddy bears and other plush toys. She was rocking back and forth as if she could collapse into a slumber (or maybe the overbearing weight of the stuffed animals was too much?)

"Sure thing, Em,"

Emily gave a sigh of relief before dumping the stuffed animals into Mia's arms. Then Mike placed a takeout box. It gave off a smell of cheeseburgers and fries, "For Jayden too. Thanks Mia," The Green Ranger and Yellow Ranger were off into their respective rooms.

By this point, Mia had to tiptoe to stay at eye level with the takeout box. She slowly swiveled around to face Antonio and hoped he didn't need to give Jayden anything. To her dread, she was saw a talking bass fish land on her pile of gifts.

"Tell Jay, that I won it for him,"

"Will do," quavered Mia as she watched him dawdle to the living room. She took short, careful steps towards the kitchen, "Mentor...help?"

Ji nodded. He shared the load of the stuffed animals and carried Kevin's plastic bag. He appreciated how the team were still thinking of Jayden during their break. He knew that the team had been spending a majority of their days off trying to convince Jayden to leave his room. At first, they made no progress. But as stubborn as he was, Jayden had left his room and went to the kitchen to eat occasionally thanks to Mia's convincing. Mia was the only one who fully communicated with Jayden and was allowed to enter the room one day, much to Antonio's disappointment as he was Jayden's roommate and had been sleeping in the living room since the break began.

Tomorrow was the last day of relaxation before returning to the normal routine. _It's time for Jayden to finally leave the house_, Ji decided. He knew Mia was the right person for the job. They set the gifts on top of the kitchen counter. The two shared a look of seriousness. Mia knew exactly what his plan was. He didn't need to speak. As if they shared a silent agreement, Mentor left Mia at the kitchen to do her job.

* * *

Mia was scouring her room for her pajama pants. She had been sitting in the kitchen for two hours before realizing she could change out of her jeans and jacket and into something more comfortable. She needed to hurry back to the kitchen soon.

She found her pink, plaid pajama pants hiding underneath her bed. Mia hastily slipped them on. In a wild frenzy she threw open the door, not caring if the waistline of her pants were still at her thighs. It was the middle of the night and nobody would be out to see her anyway. She ran to the kitchen.

Once there, she noticed that the stuffed animals were scattered across the counter. Mia rounded them up and figured that putting them in a bag would help giving them to Jayden. Feeling as if this bag was a time bomb, Mia rocketed to the cabinets. No matter how fast she wanted to be, her legs just wouldn't allow it. While taking a plastic bag from the cabinet underneath the sink, she heard soft footsteps coming from the door.

Whipping around she found a fully awake Jayden standing near the table, "Jayden!"

"Hey Mia," Jayden's eyes were wandering around the room, deliberately avoiding to look at her. His face was growing beet red, "Um...new look?"

The Pink Ranger was confused. That was until she scanned her full appearance. She was still in her sandals and her pajama pants weren't up to her waist, revealing some of her orange polka-dot underwear. Flustered, she hid behind the counter and pulled up her pants and kicked off her sandals. _Talk about embarrassing._

Trying to recover from the awkwardness, Mia carried on as if nothing happened. She scooped up the stuffed animals into the plastic bag and set it onto the table, "So...you missed bowling."

"Yeah," Jayden scratched the back of his head, his face returning to regular color.

Mia sighed. It had always been mostly one worded responses when speaking to him lately, "The team got you some stuff from tonight."

Jayden approached the counter and stared at the gifts. His face showed no expression, only his eyes. Mia saw many blurred emotions kept in his hazel eyes. Sadness. Anger. Concern. Each one blinking away to the next until ending in appreciation.

"You guys...got these for me?" He acted like a clueless boy with a roomful of presents on Christmas. Mia could tell he was debating whether or not to accept the gifts. _I'll help him out. _

She slid Mike's takeout box towards him, sensing that was why he would be in the kitchen at this hour. Being locked up in his room for hours, Jayden passed a few meals during the day.

Jayden sat down in front of her and eagerly munched on the burger inside the box and all Mia could do was stare silently until he finished devouring every single bite. The past week had been mostly filled with silences. Not much was said during their little talks, but in the end Mia always managed to appeal to Jayden's better judgement. _I hope he'll listen to me and finally get out of his room. _

He finished the meal in under 10 minutes. During that time, Mia introduced the each gift to Jayden.

"And from Kevin..." Mia took out a small box from the bag and passed it to Jayden. Opening the box, he found it was the key to the storage where all the training equipment was stored. Both Jayden and Kevin had the keys to access the equipment, but Mentor confiscated Jayden's key once he found out he was sneaking equipment into his room at the beginning of the week. Either Kevin had stolen it from Ji to return to Jayden or was letting him use his key.

_I can't believe he's encouraging this!_

She was concerned about Jayden's health. There were bags under his eyes and slept for only a few hours a day because the rest of the day consisted of training, training, and training. If he got access to the equipment storage, then he would wear himself out. He was close to collapsing from exhaustion.

Without thinking, Mia quickly snatched the key from Jayden's fingers and guarded it behind her back. She stood up from her chair and backed away from the counter.

"Mia," Jayden whispered, "Give me the key."

The Pink Ranger swallowed her fear. Jayden was bound to pounce and attack her. He wasn't in the right state of mind, "No."

"Please. Hand me the k-"

"You don't know what you're doing to yourself," Mia snapped.

Jayden rose from his chair. He was getting angry, "I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm training,"

"For what?"

"Dekker,"

"All of this for Dekker..." Mia never knew. They made small talk which eventually led to a plea for Jayden to go outside. She thought the Dekker ordeal was resolved on Monaula, "That is incredibly unwise."

"How?"

"Have you looked in the mirror? You're destroying yourself!"

"I feel fine! Just preparing..."

"Preparing? Pushing your friends away prepares you?"

"You don't understand, Mia!"

"Maybe if you had told me we wouldn't be having this conversation! "

"SHUT UP!" Jayden and Mia whipped around to see sleepy-looking Antonio in the doorway, "I'm trying to sleep. Keep it down over here or else you'll have an audience. Comprenden? Goodnight!" With that, the Gold Ranger groggily walked back to the living room.

It was then when Mia realized that she and Jayden had been yelling near the end of their argument. She looked to Jayden. His stoic expression softened. Taking deep breaths, she thought the situation through,

"Fine. I will give you the key. But you're in no condition to undergo some more training. I know that you're preparing for Dekker's next duel, but when a Nighlok comes you won't last five minutes out there. Why fight him when the only reason we fight at all is to protect this city, if not the world? Right, forget about how we feel when you pushed us away. Just remember what you signed up for when you put on the red suit and call yourself the leader."

Mia slammed the key on the table. She stormed off into her room, leaving Jayden staring forlornly after her.

**A/N: I had this lying around my computer for some time now. Lately I haven't been in much of the PR spirit, but after digging through old files I've been renewed with inspiration. I decided that while I get the final moments of 'The Future is in the Past' together, I shall entertain you with this little Samurai. Feel free to tell me what you would like to see happen. **

**Thanks for the support and be sure to leave reviews!**


	2. MoodDude

Chapter 2 'MoodDude'

A minute after Mia left, Jayden was torn.

Ever since they left Monaula, he thought about Dekker's words. He question his leadership ethics. Was he using his team? Bringing them into the action, putting their lives on the line, it was the Samurai life. In fact, it was life for police, army, navy, etc. They weren't forced into this. It was what his friends signed up for.

Jayden didn't want to put his team in danger, especially if they didn't have to. If he could have just Sealed Xandred away already...but he knew he couldn't. _I want to use the Sealing Symbol!_

His friends mean greatly to him and would do anything to protect them. Upon returning home after Monaula, he locked his bedroom door and trained himself to fight Nighlok and Moogers alone. It was never about Dekker's duel. It had always been for the team safety. He didn't want his team to know what he was doing, not even Mentor. Knowing them, they will try and stop him, similar to what Mia had done with the key.

He desperately wanted to tell Mia why he had been acting this way though he couldn't keep his emotions in check. He was feeling so many of them at once and could never figure out how to cure it. But at the end of the day, he assured himself that this was what had to be done.

He dragged himself back to his room, with his friend's gifts in tow. _They've done all this for me_. For once in his life, Jayden had something to fight for other than avenging his father's death or for the sake of Samurai duty. This was for his team.

On the way back to his room, Jayden passed by Mia's doorway. He lingered in front of it longer than he should have. He debated whether or not to talk to her. But seeing as it was late, he would have to wait. He continued to walk down the hallway until he was near Kevin's door. Pulling out the key, Jayden slid it underneath the door.

Jayden arrived in his room moments later. That night, he followed Mia's advice and chose to sleep. Once his body landed softly in his bed, he knew he needed the rest. He welcomed sleep without a question. That night he dreamt of burgers and keys.

* * *

Mia woke up feeling lightheaded. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and felt a minor puffiness. She remembered last night's events and figured she had cried after the argument she and Jayden had.

She didn't want to face the team now. She let them down when she couldn't persuade Jayden to leave his solitary state. But she couldn't stay in her room for the rest of the day. The last thing the Shiba House needed was two Rangers cooped up in their rooms. Mia made sure to wash her face so no one would notice her eyes. Then she grabbed her robe and made her way to the kitchen. _Oh...the kitchen_. _How could I pretend nothing happened when I have to sit in the very room the argument took place?_

Mia must have woken up later than usual. Mentor made breakfast and the team were lining up to get their meal wearing assorted sleepwear in their respective colors. No one really walked the halls of the Shiba House in their pajamas before, not since Christmas. Though since break, they often laid around watching cartoons in their pajamas until they found something fun to do.

"Good morning, Mia!" Emily greeted, looking awfully adorable in her matching ducky pajamas.

She mumbled a "Good morning," back to her and to everybody else. They all sat down at the table and enjoyed their breakfast, except for Mia. She was preparing herself for the questions she was bound to get concerning last night. Luckily (or not so luckily) the GAP sensor rang.

"In the middle of breakfast?" Kevin cried.

"Forget breakfast! It's our last day off duty!" Mike complained, "Come on!"

The team ran towards the living room, but Mia pulled back Kevin before he could make the hallway.

"Why did you give Jayden that key?" she pressed, "Did you steal his from Mentor?"

Kevin fished through his blue pajama pant pockets until he pulled out a key, "You mean this key?"

Mia took the key in her hands and examined it. _It was the same key from last night. _

"It's mine. I thought I could loan it to Jayden for a while. But I guess he didn't want it. I found it slid under my bedroom door this morning,"

_So Jayden didn't take the key. _Mia didn't think Jayden would actually take what she said to heart. _I wonder why Jayden keeps listening to what I say_.

Mia quickly snapped out of her thoughts when the GAP sensors interrupter her. She and Kevin rushed into the living room. Mike, Antonio, and Emily were huddled around the table waiting for Mentor to come and open the map. He tapped the table with the map of Panorama City appeared. Before he could tell the Rangers the location, Jayden all dressed in training gear came running by. With one glance at the location he was off and out the door.

The team was shocked that Jayden had taken off without them.

"Near the Plaza," Mentor said, a bit surprised himself. Then the team was out the door, "Wait!" he called. They returned in a flash.

"What is it, Mentor?" Kevin asked.

"You should probably morph now before running out in your pajamas,"

* * *

Jayden arrived onto the scene, already morphed and ready to takedown the Nighlok and the band of Moogers with him.

"I am MoodDude!" the Nighlok introduced in a as the Moogers were terrorizing civilians outside. This Nighlok a head of a rat and a body of a large plasma screen TV. It's arms were short and stubby, sticking out its body like a splinter dug in too deep in the skin. His shoulders were green cannons which swell when reloading its ammunition. The screen on his chest depicted an emoticon of some twisted mutant sort. But anybody could tell it the emoticon was sad.

"Prepare to be all sad and stuff, dudes! Behold my _emotion sickness patches_!" He spoke like a surfer and spurted out teenage terms. Jayden knew this must be a rookie Nighlok. The Moogers had been circling around a crowd of civilians, herding them closer to MoodDude. Then with the flick of the wrist, MoodDude scattered tiny red patches at the crowd.

Jayden saw the them latching onto the back of civilians' necks, rendering them into a state of mind control. They jolted and collapsed onto the ground, crying. The grieving expressions written on their faces looked genuine, but Jayden knew that MoodDude was controlling their emotions. The emoticon on his chest confirmed it.

"Hey!" Jayden called out, alerting the Nighlok of his presence, "Leave them alone!"

"Oh lookie here. It's Red!" MoodDude tilted his head and peered over Jayden's shoulder, "Going solo, _bro_? Good for me then. Moogers keep him busy!"

Jayden was ready for the Moogers. They came at him in mass numbers. He performed series of attacks in blocked one's sword before striking another. He ducked, dived, spun, blocked, but they kept up with him. They came from all sides and were closing in on him. Jayden summoned his Fire Smasher and knocked the Moogers down on their faces with one 360 swipe. But they were persistent. A majority of them rose from the ground and began slashing at Jayden. He was forced to bring out the Black Box and turn to Super Samurai mode.

"Super Blazing Strike!" Fire burned from his Spin Sword and he volleyed them at the Moogers. This time, the Moogers were blasted with so many flames they had disintegrated.

Jayden turned to face MoodDude. During the midst of the fight, the number of people under MoodDude's control had doubled. _If I had gotten to him sooner!_ Jayden thought to himself before running to the Nighlok until he was a few feet away.

"It's you and me now Nighlok,"

"And us!" Jayden heard footsteps behind him pounding against the pavement. He whipped around to see the Samurai team with weapons ready. Jayden was irritated at his team. They were his friends and all, but for everything he had been doing to preserve their safety...they kept getting themselves in danger. It was just like the time he had ran away and the team had gotten caught up in a battle with Moogers to save him.

"You guys shouldn't be here!" he said rather rudely to the team. MoodDude took this as the opportune to call for more Moogers. The rest of the Rangers were immersed in the fight. Only Mia was left standing behind Jayden. She planned to attack MoodDude since he had his focus in the the other direction.

"Well excuse us for trying to defend this city. This is what we signed up for," Mia shot back. Then she rushed to attack MoodDude, but Jayden held her back by grabbing her waist.

"Mia, don't! I got this," he pleaded. Jayden didn't want Mia, or any of his friends charging straight at the enemy. He could handle this. They could get under MoodDude's control if he let them get too close.

"Let go of me Jayden! This isn't the first time I handled a Nighlok,"

"Just listen to your boyfriend, dear," MoodDude's attention was on the two Rangers now, "You wouldn't want to get hurt now."

Mia pried Jayden off of her and in blind fury, charged at MoodDude. The two engaged in a combat, with Mia using her SpinSword and MoodDude having his own blade. Mia had the upperhand, she used advanced moves that Jayden had never seen her use in battle before. It might have been MoodDude's comment that set her off.

Now, Mia had swiped at his feet leading to the Nighlok sprawled out on the ground. She could have ended it with one final blow. Her sword was raised when MoodDude reloaded his cannon. A patch shot out and landed on the back of Mia's neck.

She dropped her sword and brought her hands to her helmet. Mia sobbed loudly all of the sudden and sank to the ground.

Jayden rushed over to Mia. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her crying form. He was not sure whether it was to shield her from attacks or just comforting her. It took a while for him to remember that Mia wasn't actually upset.

"Mia!" Emily shouted in the distance. Remembering where they were, Jayden set Mia on the ground. It was quite a struggle. Her arms were reaching out to Jayden, begging for him to stay with her. Then he carried her to a safe spot near the building. She was in no condition to fight.

"Girls are real piece of work, aren't they?" MoodDude laughed, "Now, prepared to get blasted Red Ranger!" The cannon swelled like a frog's throat then fired multiple patches at his direction. Jayden blocked all of them then came at the Nighlok. MoodDude expertly brought out his sword and swung at Jayden.

Jayden's sword was in mid strike, aiming at the Nighlok's side Then MoodDude surprised him by grabbing his wrist before it could hit. MoodDude's strength was mightier than Jayden's. He couldn't wriggle out of the grip, so he couldn't move his sword. The Nighlok swiped at Jayden's unguarded chest, then used the butt of the sword to bash against the Red Samurai helmet.

Dazed, Jayden fell on ungracefully on his back. His sword flew out of his hand during the fall. It landed beside MoodDude. He propped himself up and winced. A part of his suit had torn, revealing a bleeding gash from the fight with the Nighlok.

Injured and weaponless, Jayden was ready to be the next target for MoodDude's emotion sickness patches. He launched a series of patches.

Flashes of green, yellow, and blue filled Jayden's vision. The next thing he knew Mike, Emily, and Kevin took the blow for him while Antonio pushed Jayden out of harm's way.

"No!"

**A/N: **

**Thanks for the views and reviews guys! I'm close to finishing up FITP so just wait til the end of the week for the next chapter for that story. **

**We're going to have some fun in the upcoming chapters.**

***~Phoebee~***


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